Page 37 - the NOISE May 2015

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wilde floweR
Robert wyatt, circa 1973. musiC Bloodline aRChives
a CeleBRation of life and metal:
Jaimeson Collins in meme
on February 3, 2015, the northern Arizona metal scene lost a staple. Jaimeson Collins was beloved by his band-mates and fans across the state. Having per- formed in the groups spitshine, Crib Deth, Drunk Tank, and Apenimon over his 18 years in the scene, his loss devastated a tight-knit clan of people unified by a devotion
to distortion, volume, and the family that is metal. speaking with band-mates Rick and Devin of Defenestrate about their favorite memory and the benefit show on May 9 at the Orpheum honoring a veteran of the extreme music community, this writer asked: In the spirit of celebrating Jaimieson’s life, would you share a favorite memory?
Rick: First time I met him, we were hired the same week at the Furniture Barn in Flagstaff about 2001. we’d always go out and deliver together and had this one de- livery in particular in sedona, just dropping a futon off downstairs. As we’re putting it together down there, there was this older lady, must have been in her 70’s, who came to the doorway just staring at us. we were trying to do, you know, small talk, and she asked, ‘Do you recognize me?’ we said, ‘no, should we?’ and then she walked off. she came back downstairs about five minutes later, we’re pretty much done, just picking up trash, and she comes to the doorway again and says, ‘Do you recognize me now?’ we said, ‘no, you just asked us that,’ and then she asked again, ‘How about now?’ and pulled out a big butcher’s knife while walking towards us. It turned out it was Betsy Palmer from Friday The 13th, who played Jason Voorhees’s mother. she gave us a couple pictures, signed for us, and invited us upstairs for tea. It was a surreal moment, having tea with Jason Vorrhees’s mother. she went into some older stories about her career, like how she used to date James Dean and how she was one of the original anchors for The Today Show. Ha, ha!
Devin: The last show we played in Flagstaff, at the Green Room, it was the ex- humed and Carcass show, and, at the time, he had a hurt ankle from work. so, he was playing with this big boot on, just trying to get around his hurt ankle ... The rest of the band was doing the set-up and breakdown because he was injured and during the first song, I was singing and what-not, and he fell over because of the boot on his leg. I couldn’t see him and was wondering where he was at, but could still hear him. He couldn’t get back up (due to the boot), so he was just playing while he was lying there. He didn’t miss one note through the whole song.
Doors open at 3:23PM on the dot (March 23rd being Jaimeson’s birthday) and the show will begin at 4PM on May 9 with bands that have shared both the stage and good times with him from across the state. Opening acts include up and coming projects Sinister Plague, Bloody Regorge, and My Enemyz Blood with a special one-time only reunion performance from Jaimieson’s previous project Spitshine. Headliners include Sheepheads, one of nORAZ’s best party metal bands, and Where Teddy Bears Go To Die. Defenastrate will be performing one last set with Jaimieson’s stepson nicholas stepping in on guitar. In addition to music, there will be a raffle with signed memorabilia from legends Slayer and Testament, as well as music les- sons and prizes from AZ Music Pro. All proceeds raised go directly to the family. The event will be catered with pizza graciously donated by Domino’s and is sponsored by Jaimieson’s favorite hot sauce, Rising Hy.
In parting, the metal community is one built by the performers and dedicated fans. The old adage that a musician is someone who puts $5000 worth of gear into a $500 car to drive to a $50 show isn’t just a joke, it’s raw truth that perfectly illustrates the passion that the performers have. That kind of passion attracts like-minded people and eventually, what was once a scene grows into a family. whenever someone is lost, that family feels it as hard as the loss of a blood relative. But, despite being a subculture obsessed with the dark side of life, there is positivity in venting. Memo- rial shows are never sad affairs. They exist to remind us that there is still a network of friends who have thrown themselves head first into this sound and to celebrate the good times, have some fun in a brother’s honor, and remember a personality that Rick said, “had that ability to just draw you in.””
| mike williams has his metal. mike@thenoise.us
juana smoke, he mumbled, “yeah, actually ... I do want it to sound like that.”
Jimi shrugged and returned to his couch and magazine, leaving Robert to his art
and the doobie glued to his lips.
years later, long after his friend was dead and canonized, Robert wyatt recalled
the incident with slight horror and some amusement. what an impertinent little twat he was. He just might be the only man in history to refuse a guitar lesson from Jimi Hendrix.
Upon reuniting in england, wyatt and Ratledge recruited their old wilde Flowers mate Hugh Hopper to play bass, and soft Machine was reborn. The group fulfilled their ABC contract with an album just as good as their first, then signed to Colum- bia, adding a horn section along the way. wyatt wanted to develop his voice and songwriting further, while his band mates were looking to play only instrumentals. After two more LPs, Robert wyatt left soft Machine in 1971. He released a tentative solo album, The End of an Ear, then cut two records and toured with Matching Mole, a play on the words “Machine Molle,” French for soft Machine.
wyatt’s on/off relationship with new Musical express writer (and future Clash manager) Caroline Coon was coming to a slow and painful end. The first cut on the first Matching Mole LP was “O Caroline,” a funny and sweetly sincere love song wyatt had written for her, but it wasn’t enough. After the breakup he drifted mo- rosely for a while and then, not for the last time in Robert wyatt’s life, his tragedy became a blessing in disguise. He met his true love.
Alfreda Benge was a spanish-blooded Brit, an artist, poet, songwriter, and film geek. she was an even worse cynic and atheist than he. she loved drinking and screwing, coincidentally Robert’s two favorite pastimes when offstage. He couldn’t believe his luck. They were perfect for each other and started talking marriage.
Before Alfreda left the country to edit nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now, she bought Robert a small portable organ he could travel with. He leisurely began writing a new batch of songs. He was in love and had all the time in the world.
On June 1st, 1973, Robert attended a party in London thrown by Gong, a group founded by his old mate Daevid Allen. It was a ripping bash and everyone got ex- tremely drunk. At one point in the evening, Robert opened a living room window to let the cool night breeze in. He sat balanced on the ledge talking to friends and passing a bottle of whiskey around. A few minutes later, someone asked him a question and got no response. They turned to look, and Robert wasn’t in the window anymore.
when he awoke in the hospital, Robert wyatt was informed he was lucky to be alive. He had fallen out of the window and down three stories onto the concrete. His back was broken and he would have to stay hospitalized for at least six months. shortly thereafter, his doctor delivered some sobering news: Robert was paralyzed from the waist down and would have to live the rest of his life in a wheelchair with two useless legs.
Robert wyatt was 28 years old.
|tony Ballz owns a nice set of archives. tony@thenoise.us
thenoise.us • the NOISE arts & news • MAY 2015 • 37